History of Change: Old English to Medieval English

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Anglo Saxons brought their language with them when they arrived in England, from northern Germany. The language had Germanic roots and thus was parallel with the German language. However, the language in itself was ‘incomplete’ and ‘unstructured’ than what we have right now. The Noun had three genders (male, female and neuter) and was divided into five cases. The plurals would differ with number, tense, mood and person. There were seven categories of “strong” verbs and three of “weak” verbs. Even certain items had either a single or four plurals of three genders and five case types. The arrangement of the words was freer than now and the meaning would often twist. While it appears very different from today’s English, many of its terms are easy to recognize if one can understand the pronunciation and the spellings.

Source- bbc.co.uk

Now, what that means in Modern English is,

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Under the leadership of William II (also, William The Conqueror), France and its provinces captured England in 1066. From setting the Aristocracy and the courts of justice, he declared French as the official language. Norman-French was an elite language, followed by Latin and then, Saxon-English. However, during the next two centuries, Anglo-Norman French mingled with Anglo-Saxon English. At last, the two languages combined and mixed their grammar and vocabulary. The church employed this combination in the Latin language. It created the language we know as Middle English. Chaucer, William Langland and poet of ‘Sir Gawaine’s and Green Knight’s used it in their works.